February 6, 2015 – Electronic health record systems are so badly designed, says the American Medical Association, they are “the leading cause of physician dissatisfaction, emotional fatigue, depersonalization, and lost enthusiasm.”

Intended to be comprehensive and accessible to authorized health care providers, a recent study by the AMA and Rand Corporation found “overwhelming agreement that EHR systems in use today are cumbersome and clumsy to operate.”

The AMA wants to cure this by setting up a facility at Merchandise Mart that will help entrepreneurs collaborate with health care professionals and design better products and services. The AMA Interaction Studio will be built in 450 square feet of space at the not-for-profit MATTER, a one-year-old organization that offers shared office space, encouraging collaboration, to health care entrepreneurs.

“New technologies by themselves are not meaningful in health care without the engagement of physicians and health care professionals,” says MATTER CEO Steven Collens (left).

The American Medical Association, which announced the partnership on Wednesday, is hoping to no less than “transform health care” and “improve the health of the nation” with new technology developed at the AMA Interaction Studio.

The studio will include video and audio technology to allow entrepreneurs to better understand how their new products and services will be used. Educational workshops and other collaborative events will focus on improving interaction between health care providers and their patients.